2016 Wesleyan Discipline:Ministerial qualifications

310. The General Conference shall from time to time enact provisions for the training, qualification, and ordination of the ministry. Every Wesleyan minister must be a member of some Wesleyan church, and each ordained minister must be a member of a district. An ordained minister is a minister of the gospel fully invested with all the functions of the Christian ministry.

B. Qualifications and Call of the Specialized Minister

3003. While God, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, assigns to each believer a part in the general or corporate ministry of the church, He also calls some to a specialized or representative type of ministry. As Christ called unto Him whom He would, chose and ordained His twelve apostles “that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach” (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:Mark 3:14), so He still calls and sends forth His messengers to be servants of the servants who make up the whole church. And as the Holy Spirit impresses this call upon the individual involved, He also confirms the call through the Church. It is the responsibility of the Church both to recognize and endorse God’s call, providing for the training and employment of those He selects, and to respect the office of the specialized ministry by refusing its exercise to those not called of God. The Church’s endorsement may be limited to a probationary period, taking the form of a license, or it may be granted on a more permanent basis, taking the form of commissioning or ordination.

3006. The Wesleyan Church believes that four marks will concur in the person whom God has called: grace, gifts, fruit, and an abiding sense of a divine call. All candidates for ministerial license, commission or ordination shall be examined concerning each of these marks:

(1) As to grace, are they converted? are they entirely sanctified? are they manifesting the fruit of the Spirit? are they worthy examples to the church and to the world?

(2) As to gifts, are they able to think clearly? to understand and communicate clearly matters related to salvation? to speak persuasively? to practice loving care? to provide leadership?

(3) As to fruit, have any been truly convicted of sin and converted to God through their ministry? and have believers been edified?

(4) As to an abiding sense of a divine call, can they testify to a continuing and increasing conviction that they have been chosen by God for a specialized and representative ministry?

3012. Any person sustaining a marriage relation contrary to the Scriptures and the Membership Commitments (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:265:5–7; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:410:5–6; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:3108) shall be ineligible for licensing, commissioning or ordination in The Wesleyan Church.